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Greetings!
 What a difference a season makes. From where I sit, just outside Washington, DC, it has been a remarkable summer so far. It has been one of the coolest on record, but the economic and political climates have been the most interesting. This week's cover of Newsweek proclaims, "The Recession is Over," and the Sunday  talk shows are filled with optimistic economists. Warren Buffet has a 44% unrealized gain on his Goldman Sachs warrants, and Legg Mason's Bill Miller, the king of value investing for 15 years until the charm faded in 2005, is showing a 20% gain in the Value Trust fund he manages. Miller, like Newsweek, says, "The Worst is Over."
Business aviation continues on a bumpy road as the OEMs continue to announce lower delivery targets for the next several years and other respected forecasters like the Teal Group support these projections. The collapse of JetDirect drove a stake in the heart of the aircraft management industry, leaving large and small companies, and many individuals, with millions in losses. Unlike most other business failures this year, the genesis of Jet Direct's problems was an antiquated rule and over enforcement. (See the article I wrote in 2007 "General Aviation Tsunami" if you need a refresher on this very unfortunate situation).
Whatever the final output by the business jet manufacturers over the next few years, the three drivers in this industry remain positive. The size of the fleet continues to grow, the fleet continues to age, and while we have seen a dip of late, hours flown are beginning to grow again. These drivers will first be positive influences on the business jet service industry, and eventually the manufactures. In May Business and Commercial Aviation published a report "When Business Aviation Rebounds." I wrote an article for GLG News, a publication distributed to institutional investment firms like private equity funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, etc. commenting on the BC&A article. You can read what I wrote by clicking Here.
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A Tale of Two Standards
Remember VHS vs. Betamax?
 Business aircraft charter saw tremendous growth in the 1990s and received another boost after 9/11/2001 when airline travel was extremely restricted. Major corporations and fractional companies like NetJets, FlexJet and others needed to be confident that the companies operating the business jets they chartered had the highest level of safety.
Although the U.S. market had several quality auditing firms performing independent safety audits, the charter community and the buyers of charter, were desperately seeking a globally accepted solution to the myriad of audits and standards being utilized. With the support of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and in conjunction with numerous business aircraft operators and regulators around the globe, International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) developed the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operators (IS-BAO), and introduced it to the aviation community in 2002.
IS-BAO was designed to establish a professional safety code of practice for flight departments worldwide, developed by the industry, for the industry. This safety standard has applicability for domestic and international flight operations, private as well as charter, and scales from one aircraft operators to the largest fleets. Through tremendous efforts over the last 7 years, hundreds of business jet operators have gone through or are going through the IS-BAO registration process. Regulators around the world recognize the validity of the IS-BAO standard.
In 2009 a second standard was announced by the Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF), a new organization developed by the National Air Transportation Association (NATA). ACSF will limit audits under their standard to only members of ACSF.
ARG/US, Inc. has been a globally recognized and respected data collection, analysis and auditing firm of aircraft operators for over a decade. ARG/US has declined to endorse or join ACSF as they see no value in introducing another standard created by a U.S. trade association that has no acceptance outside of the United States. Furthermore they feel the ACSF plan dilutes the enormous efforts by IBAC in achieving global acceptance of IS-BAO.
The wounded aircraft management/charter industry does not need a battle like this.
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Russ Meyer
A True General Aviation Leader
 On July 18th Russ Meyer was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame along with Jimmy Stewart, and astronauts Ed White and Eileen Collins. Russ led Cessna for 28 years from 1975 to 2003. He accomplished many things at Cessna, not the least of which was the development of the Citation business jet line, the most prolific of all the business jets. It seemed like he spent almost as much time in Washington as he did in Wichita and is credited with playing an instrumental role in the lobbying for passage of the 1994 General Aviation Revitalization Act, which succeeded in restarting single engine aircraft production that was almost nonexistent for 10 years because of long liability tails on older aircraft.
I got to know Russ in the early 1980s when I was a Cessna dealer. He visited me often at my small FBO. Several times he offered me a ride to Wichita in a Citation. Russ introduced me to Najeeb Halaby, an early FAA Administrator, president of Pan American World Airways, and father of Queen Noor. Jeeb and his family became good friends of mine and Jeeb made a small investment in my business. I had dinner with his son and younger daughter several times at Jeeb's house. His oldest daughter, the Queen, was living in Jordan at the time, but I did meet her on two occasions when she visited the Washington area.
Russ is a gentleman and a scratch golfer. His friend Arnold Palmer for many years took the first delivery of every new Citation model.
Another friend of mine was fortunate enough to attend Russ's enshrinement in Dayton and related the detail to me. I believe every living astronaut was there to honor Russ and the other inductees.
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